Aretha Franklin was six years into a hit-free career when Dan Penn wrote her a song that would go on to become a classic, synonymous with her name. “Aretha walks in and she’s got this aura around her,” says Penn of the recording session, which took place at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. “The girl was special, that was obvious. I sang her Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, accompanied by just a little drumbeat and an organ.”
In 1967, the song “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” (co-written by Penn and Chips Moman) was on the charts in the US for 11 weeks, reaching No. 9. It was later recognized as one of Rolling Stone’s Greatest Songs of All Time. Penn has countless anecdotes about working with stars like Aretha Franklin and the successful songs he wrote for them. However, there was one singer who, some argue, was the biggest of them all, that he never had the opportunity to work with.
In 1969, Moman was responsible for producing Elvis Presley’s successful comeback songs, including “In the Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds.” Despite not being actively involved in these sessions, Penn was asked to provide another form of assistance. According to him, Moman asked him to bring his camera down to capture photos of Elvis and the other musicians. Some may find it surprising that Penn didn’t say anything to Elvis during this time, but he questions what he could have said to someone who was allegedly under the influence of drugs, just like himself.
The person laughs and says, “Unfortunately, Elvis never recorded any of my songs. I heard he was going to record “Nobody’s Fool,” but then he passed away.” “Nobody’s Fool,” a lively and catchy song written by Penn and Bobby Emmons, ended up being made popular by Alex Chilton, a talented teenager who later struggled with alcohol and drug addiction while maintaining a devoted fan base.
Wallace Daniel Pennington was from Vernon, Alabama and developed a passion for the radio during his childhood. He listened to artists such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Perry Como, Ray Charles, and Jimmy Reed at different times of the day. Even though segregation was prevalent in Vernon, Pennington remembers that there were no significant issues among the people at that time. He believes that these problems only emerged later on.
Penn was a fan of soul, blues, and gospel music, and showed a talent for singing from a young age. He also discovered a knack for songwriting. One of his songs caught the attention of a scout in Nashville, leading to Conway Twitty turning it into a successful hit. Penn recalls feeling proud and accomplished during his high school years.
After finishing school, Penn secured a position at a small recording studio in Florence, Alabama. The studio was co-owned by Rick Hall, an aspiring record producer. Penn credits Hall for teaching him the ropes and absorbing valuable knowledge through observation. In 1961, Hall relocated his Fame Studios to Muscle Shoals, and Penn continued to write and provide songs for local black singers. In 1966, he partnered with pianist Spooner Oldham and together they achieved great success when James & Bobby Purify recorded their hit song “I’m Your Puppet.” This experience opened Penn’s eyes to the potential profitability of the music industry.
Penn and Oldham became popular and Hall gave their songs to artists like Percy Sledge, Clarence Carter, and Wilson Pickett. Penn remembers fondly of those times, where they had lengthy sessions for writing and recording. Although Rick had a great ear for music, he occasionally overlooked someone. Penn personally recorded Percy Sledge’s original demo featuring the now famous song “When a Man Loves a Woman,” but Rick didn’t fully understand its potential.
Hall and Penn teamed up to write a folk-style song about a breakup, titled “You Left the Water Running”. Though other artists such as Pickett and Ken Boothe would later record it, Penn was shocked to discover that Otis Redding had dropped in to the Muscle Shoals studio and created a simple demo of the track. The lyrics go, “You left the water running, it’s pouring from my eyes.” The song was eventually released in 1987 by Redding’s estate, and Penn is a big fan of this version, seeing it as proof that songs can have a life of their own. “I’m always surprised and happy to hear who has covered my songs. And getting royalties is a bonus!”
Even though Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals was gaining success as a hub for hit songs, Penn was feeling antsy. He received an invitation from Chips, a successful producer in Memphis, to join him. In 1966, they teamed up to write “The Dark End of the Street,” a haunting and melancholic tune about a forbidden romance. This poignant track has been covered by a diverse range of artists, from Dolly Parton to Lee “Scratch” Perry and Cat Power.
How did it happen? According to Penn, “Chips and I were playing poker throughout the night in a hotel room. We took a break and saw a guitar, and suddenly, the song just came to us in about 15 minutes. It felt like it came out of nowhere. James then sang it wonderfully.”
After being assigned production duties for a Memphis band called The Box Tops, Moman gave them a tape of potential songs to work with. Out of the options, Penn selected one song titled “The Letter” and worked closely with the band and their 16-year-old singer, Chilton, until they achieved a satisfactory take. Their hard work paid off when “The Letter” reached number one on the US charts for four consecutive weeks in September of 1967.
“I produced, engineered and wrote most of the first three Box Tops albums,” says Penn. “Spooner and I wrote their second hit, Cry Like a Baby.” With Penn guiding them, the band scored a slew of pop-soul hits. “The Box Tops were a lot of hard work,” he says, “but Alex was always a pleasure to work with. He was a vocal prodigy and could sing all kinds of ways. Some people now make out that he didn’t like me, but I always found him friendly and respectful.”
After the disbandment of Box Tops, Big Star, led by Alex Chilton, had no initial success in terms of sales. Despite this, their music went on to greatly impact and inspire many indie bands, including REM and Teenage Fanclub. While this is an impressive feat, Penn is not impressed, stating that Big Star’s music was too “flowery” for his taste and that Alex did not see any record sales after their collaboration ended.
During the 1960s, Penn experienced a significant period of success with multiple hit songs. However, he faced challenges in the 1970s and 1980s. Reflecting on his time in Memphis, he acknowledges its reputation for producing incredible music, particularly blues. However, following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., there was a noticeable shift in the city and its music scene.
On their first album, The Flying Burrito Brothers, led by Gram Parsons, included Dark End of the Street and Do Right Woman among their recordings. Meanwhile, A Woman Left Lonely, a song written by Penn and Oldham, stands out as the most powerful track on Janis Joplin’s last album, Pearl. Surprisingly, Penn did not have much admiration for the hippie movement. In fact, he describes Joplin’s style as “just a bunch of screaming.”
Penn relocated to Nashville and still resides there. He continued to write, but did not achieve significant success. He acknowledges his rural roots but recognizes that his songs do not fit the country music genre. Although he released solo albums, they were not well-received, and his other recordings were either not released or not promoted.
That is now about to change. A 2005 album he co-wrote and produced for Bobby Purify has now been reissued as The Inside Track on Bobby Purify. The reissue features Penn’s original 10-song demo, providing a fascinating glimpse of how song sketches transform into soul bangers. “I’m real happy with it,” says Penn, now aged 82. “The demos sound so good. And it’s great that Bobby’s album will finally be heard. He was such a fine singer.”
Penn is able to work at a leisurely pace thanks to the royalties he receives from his famous songs. He believes that if he had continued touring, he would have become exhausted. He is grateful for his home studio where he can create and record new music at his own pace, even if it may not be in line with current trends. His face lights up as he declares that songwriting has been a lucrative and fulfilling journey for him.
Source: theguardian.com
